Steven Gerrard’s Rangers moved to the top of the Scottish Premiership today after winning 2-1 away against early season pace setters Hearts.
The Ibrox outfit fell behind in the 27th minute after centre-back Gareth McAuley scored an own goal, but strikes from Conor Goldson and Alfredo Morelos saw Gerrard’s side go in at half-time in the lead.
Rangers would have to ride their luck a bit late on after Scott Arfield received a red card in the 72nd minute, and not for the first time this season ‘keeper Allan McGregor made a series of top class stops.
Speaking after the game Gerrard praised the character of his players, with today’s game coming just 72 hours after their Europa League tie against Villarreal.
“You’ve got to be resilient in this league, especially against teams like Hearts, who don’t go away,” he told BT Sport.
“No matter what the scoreline is, they keep coming and they’ve got a manager who fires them up.
“When the game is 2-1, you know the game is still in the balance, but the lads have shown unbelievable mental strength and character.
“We emptied it on Thursday night and had 72 hours to recover.
“Hearts before the game were talking about energy and intensity, but we were the fitter and better today.
“They were better for the first 20 minutes, but we completely dominated the game thereafter.”